Venezuela Supreme Court judge Christian Zerpa flees to US

Venezuela Supreme Court judge Christian Zerpa has fled to
the US to protest over President Nicolás Maduro’s second term in office.

Last year’s election “was not free and
competitive”, the former Maduro loyalist told a Florida radio station.

And he accused President Maduro of systematically
manipulating the affairs of the Supreme Court.

In response, the court said Mr Zerpa was fleeing allegations
of sexual harassment.

Opposition parties boycotted the 2018 vote, calling it a
sham.

Mr Zerpa had been a crucial ally for Mr Maduro on the court,
writing a key legal opinion in 2016 justifying the president’s decision to
strip congress of its powers.

His ruling Socialist party had lost control of the
legislature to the opposition in a landslide vote earlier that year.

But in an interview with Miami broadcaster EVTV on Sunday,
Mr Zerpa called the Supreme Court “an appendage of the executive
branch”, saying the president would tell justices how to rule on certain
cases.

He said he had not publicly criticised the 2018 election
result to ensure he and his family could safely flee to the US.

Mr Maduro is due to be formally inaugurated to a second term
on 10 January.

Fourteen countries recalled their ambassadors from Caracas in protest at the result of the vote last May, and the US imposed fresh economic sanctions on the country.

Before the election even took place, the United States,
Canada, the European Union and a dozen Latin American countries said they would
not recognise the results.

The opposition had boycotted the poll while the government
barred many others from taking part.

Millions of people have fled Venezuela in recent years amid
skyrocketing inflation and chronic food shortages.

In the meantime, at least 30 people have been killed in the
collapse of a gold mine in north-eastern Afghanistan, officials say.

The collapse occurred in the Kohistan district of Badakhshan
province.

Villagers had reportedly dug a 60m (220ft) deep but
makeshift shaft in a river bed to hunt for gold and were caught in its
collapse.

Afghanistan has vast resources of minerals but many of the
mines are old and poorly maintained, creating severe safety issues.

Villagers were reportedly using an excavator at the site
when the mine collapsed.

At least seven other people were injured, officials say.

Kohistan district chief Rostam Raghi told the BBC’s Afghan
service: “Locals rushed to the scene and managed to rescue only 13
workers. Dozens of others, including some children, died.”

Nik Mohammad Nazari, spokesman for the provincial governor,
told Agence France-Presse: “The villagers have been involved in this
business for decades with no government control over them.

“We have sent a rescue team to the area, but villagers
have already started removing bodies from the site.”

A spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority
told AFP the families of the dead would receive 50,000 afghanis ($660; £520).

Afghanistan’s vast resources remain largely untapped due to
the conflict with the Taliban.

The conflict has seen the rise in illegal mining both by villagers and Taliban fighters who use it as a key source of revenue.

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